


its all downhill from here

by Skiewrites



Series: "Heroes Need Not Stand Alone..." [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magic, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Magic, Magic School, i did a thing, slight gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skiewrites/pseuds/Skiewrites
Summary: The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year is supposed to be one filled with excitement and mischief for every student at Hogwarts, even the first and second years who aren’t allowed to go down to the village.Except of course, the group of heroes are involved, and nothing goes right for them.
Relationships: Sky/Sun (Linked Universe)
Series: "Heroes Need Not Stand Alone..." [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661182
Comments: 9
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be short. I said to myself, yeah, this will be about 3k max, it’s just an intro to an idea that people might like. 
> 
> But no. that did not happen. 
> 
> This is a disaster.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend.

These weekends were one of the most anticipated events during the Hogwarts year, something that did not surprise Time in the slightest. A chance to leave the castle and be away from the pressures of homework, exams and whatever drama was stirring was eagerly awaited by almost every student in the castle, even the first and second years enjoyed having the castle to themselves while the older students disappeared for the day.

So, Time was a little bit surprised to be waiting around for Twilight and Wild before they walked down as a group to meet the rest of their friends, Wild especially, since it’s going to be his first time going to the village. He didn’t want to go up to their dorms and rush them, but the longer that he waited the more he dreaded listening to Legend and Warriors moan on the walk down to the village about how long they took to meet with the rest of the group.

Time gave a small wave to both Lullaby and Sheik as they walked out of the portrait doorway, leaving Time to wait for another five minutes before Wild and Twilight walked down the stairs, along with Sidon, who was talking animatedly before he noticed Time.

“What took you guys so long?” Time asked as they started to walk down through the portrait and down to meet the others.

“Wild had a huge knot in his hair, something was stuck in it, and it took forever to convince him that he couldn’t go the village with it in, let alone the time it took to take it out,” Sidon said, his trademark smile never leaving his face.

“Something that wouldn’t be an issue if you got your hair cut for once!” Twilight muttered.

“No! I am not cutting my hair, and you can’t make me!” Wild almost yelled, causing a couple of the heads of the common room to turn to look at him. While it had become known that, yes, Wild could speak, it was still new for some people and they always looked very confused to see him talk.

“Then look after it, or one day I’ll take it off while you’re not looking.” Twilight teased, before having to judge out of the way of Wild’s swinging fist. “Jeeze pup, it was a joke.”

“It better be,” Wild had a feral look in his eye, and despite Twilight being the one in the group who could turn into an animal at will, it reminded that Wild was really the most animalistic person in their group. Not that they would change it about him, but it could be scary to have a reminder that Wild basically grew up in the woods by himself in everyday conversations.

“Well, I’ve got to go and meet Mipha, see you guys later!” Sidon disappeared very quickly after that, and Time did not miss the way that Sidon got surprised at Wild’s quick change of behaviour. While the rest of the group had friends outside of the group, himself with Sheik and Malon, Twilight was very close with Midna and some of the younger Gryffindors, Legend had Revio but seemed to be able to hold a conversation with anyone in the school, Warriors had his twin and Lana, Hyrule had Dawn and Aurora, Wind had Tetra and his group of ‘pirates’ as they liked to be known, Wild was not close to anyone, seemingly preferring to be alone. Sure, Sky only really seemed to hang out with his girlfriend Sun and Four was closer to a book than any living person (though Dot did make it very close), Wild was not as integrated into the Hogwarts social life, living up to his nickname.

People like Sidon did try and be friendly, and goddess’s know how many methods Flora had tried to help him open himself up to her or any other person who’s birthname was not Link, but nothing they tried seemed to work, much to her frustrations. Time could only consider the fact that he had even opened up to their group as a positive, and the fact that he was even talking would be considered a miracle in his eyes.

And yet, Wild seemed sad to watch Sidon leave the group, letting out a sigh and going quiet as they continued to walk down to the rest of the group, not even looking up until they were just outside the entrance hall.

“Well finally, what took you guys so long!” Warriors yelled at the group of Gryffindors as they approached the rest of their friends, all dressed in their winter clocks and their scarfs, all the colours of their respective houses, for while it was only October, the weather had not been nice to them this year, continuously raining and sometimes even hailing chunks of ice down on the students who had studies outside.

“You can’t say much, you and Legend have only been here for a minute before the others turned up,” Four said with his arms crossed over his blue and silver scarf as he looked up at the elder boy.

“That’s because it takes time to look this perfect,” Warriors said dismissively, gesturing to his immaculate robes, the Slytherin crest on his chest seeming to sparkle in the little daylight that could get through the windows, “And we weren’t late like they were!”

“They were late by only a minute, calm down,” Sky said, ever the mediator of the group.

“Can we please go now! The longer we spend here the less time we have to explore the village!” Hyrule said as he started walking out of the castle and towards Impa, who held a list of people who were allowed to leave the castle, mainly to stop first and second years from trying their luck at sneaking out of the castle with the main population. The rest of the group followed him, waving hi to Impa as she ticked them off the list and gestured to go on their way.

“You’ve already explored everything the village has to offer though,” Twilight pointed out, but the Ravenclaw shook his head.

“Not with Wild I haven’t,” Twilight tensed his jaw at that. Hyrule on his own exploring is a nightmare, the boy could get lost while following arrows to his desired location. Add in a Wild who could find his way into almost anything in the most unconventional way possible and took everything in the world as a challenge, then they were going to have a mess on their hands before the end of the day.

Whatever. If the pair of them got a detention because they got lost on their way to the shrieking shack and found themselves in the Ministry of Magic then that was on them, he wasn’t their mother.

The walk down to the village was uneventful, with the exception of Twilight having to keep a hand on the sleeves of Wild’s robes to stop him wondering off of the road and into the wilderness that surrounded the castle just because he was curious. They joked, laughed and complained about all the schoolwork they had to do when they got back in the evening.

“I feel kind of bad that we left Wind by himself,” Hyrule said as they just entered the village and joined the large crowd of students, Twilight quickly reassuring his hold on Wild before he ran off from the group before everyone was ready to split off.

“I don’t,” Legend said as someone bumped into him. “Oi! Watch where you’re going!” he shouted at the other person, frowning as the unknown person walked off like nothing had happened.

“He’s probably going to hang around with Tetra,” Sky suggested, most of the group agreeing with him before Four interrupted the nodding.

“No, Dot told me that their mother called them for a meeting, so none of them are coming to the village, or hanging out with Wind,” Four said, and Time frowned.

“A meeting? Lullaby said that she was going to meet us later on though,” Time muttered as he thought about it, before turning to Legend. “Did you know about this?”

For every boy named Link in the castle, there was a girl named Zelda, and then plus one. But while there being nine people called Link in the castle was a strange coincidence, the ten girls called Zelda was no mistake, as they all shared the same mother, Headmistress Hylia Hyrule, and Legend had the unfortunate draw in life to be the only brother to the ten girls. According to Legend, it was a family tradition to call all the females in the family Zelda because of how rare it was for a girl to be born in their line, even one girl was enough for a celebration. But ten girls? Unheard off. It was apparently a sign from the goddesses, but a sign of what Time had found himself to care less and less about as his respect for the goddesses dropped through the years.

“Pff, as if my mother cares enough about me to involve me in their little group,” Legend spat, “She’s always preferred the girls over me, all ten of them! But lately…” He paused for a second, thinking about his words before he continued, “Lately she’s been more and more secretive from me while her and the girls’ scheme. Fable wants to tell me but fears getting in trouble with Mother. I think it’s about Demise.”

The group went silent at the name. The past years had been hard on them, with each year the demon trying harder and harder to kill them all just because one of them was the fabled ‘Hero’ destined to kill him, and each year they only survived through the edge of their teeth, sometimes even less, the sun reflecting off of Wild’s silver scar tissue that made up a good portion of his face and the way that Time had to turn his head to physically see everything with only one eye.

And after what the hat said to the school at the beginning of the year just after the sorting ceremony had finished, well, it left the group dreading what was going to happen at the end of the year. It was not a nice feeling to know that the weight of everything rested on one of them and not know which one it would be, along with the whole school shooting them side glances

They had a plan for it though. They started the plan last year, and continued to perfect it as much as possible, each with their roles and responsibilities, and while it seemed almost fool proof, it still left Time uneasy and with a bitter taste in his mouth. He was the only person in the group to be considered an adult in the eyes of the Hylian law, and while the rest of the group were pretty mature for their age, it still unsettled Time at how serious they all were about the plan and how far they would go to make sure that Demise would not get what he desired.

“Geeze, what’s made you guys so serious? C’mon, today is supposed to be fun!” The group turned around quickly to look down at the Hufflepuff who should still be back at the castle.

“Wind! What are you doing here?” Hyrule asked the youngest in the group while the others got over the shock of seeing the second year in front of him, when he defiantly shouldn’t be, not with Impa guarding the entrance.

“Going to Hogsmeade with you guys of course!” Wind replied as he wrapped his yellow and black scarf tighter around his neck. “I am not staying in the castle when you guys are having all the run out here.”

“You were fine with it last year,” Legend pointed out as he poked him on the nose much to Wind’s annoyance.

“Yeah, but last year Wild was with me and we could explore the castle, which was still very new to me. But exploring boring on your own and we’ve found pretty much everything interesting to find anyway,” Wind said, leaving Time to frown slightly. He doubted that any one person could find everything in the castle, he was sure that there were places that even Hylia herself had not visited or even knew about. But then again, this was Wild and Wind exploring, where the former could get anywhere, and the latter wanted to document every single nook and cranny. Last year, Wind had began talking about plotting the castle’s layout on a single piece of paper with everything on it, and while the other boys last year had smiled and nodded along with Wind, now Time was actually believing that the boy could finish his project. He had almost every room placed on parchment now, it was the actual charming of the paper that he was working on. It would take at least another year by Time’s estimate, and that was if Wind didn’t try and convince someone else to help him with the charming of the map.

“How did you even leave the castle without any of the teachers noticing?” Sky asked as he fiddled with his scarf, not the traditional yellow and back one from his house but a white and blue, a handmade gift from his girlfriend.

“Oh, Hyrule showed me and Wild this passageway last year that lead right into the middle of the village. Pretty cool right?” Wind explained with a smile on his face, as if breaking the rules was just another day at Hogwarts, but to be fair on him, between them all, only one rule being broken in a day would make a record low for them.

“What? That exists? Why didn’t you show me?” Four cried, leaving Hyrule to wince.

“We’ve been there before, remember when we got lost in our first year? It just so happens that tunnel actually continues onwards to Hogsmeade, we just thought it caved in at some point.” Hyrule explained, but Four was still pouting at being left out.

“Still… Wind, what happens if one of the teachers find out you’re here?” Twilight asked him, and Wind only rolled his eyes at the question.

“First they’re gonna have to catch me, and I doubt that will happen with how many people are here today,” He did have a point, as the others took a look at their surroundings and saw only a sea of Hogwarts students, all wearing black robes with their house scarf, it being particularly cold for an October day.

“Fine, whatever. I’m not taking any responsibility for you though. If you get lost trying to get back to the castle then that’s on you, got it?” Time said pinching at his brow line. As the oldest in the group, he is often given the most blame for what the group does, which, fair, he does often take the lead during their misadventures, but it should be noted that it was never him that suggests the idea in the first place.

“Yes sir!” Wind saluted to him in a jokey manner, causing Time to let a smile out at the younger boy.

“Good. Now, I want to pop into the Happy Mask Shop, that guy owes me a favour and I’m hoping he can grab a hold of something for me for Ganondorf’s class, he’s working us to an early grave this year,” Time said, his smile staying on his face as the other boys groaned at the mere mention of their defence against the dark arts teacher.

“Isn’t he always, when he isn’t trying to kill us of course.” Warriors moaned.

“Maybe that’s one of the ways he is trying to kill us, through sheer boredom and painfully long homework essays.” Twilight suggested, which got a laugh out of the rest of the group.

They joked about the other ways that Ganon could be trying to kill them, trying to keep the spirit light-hearted and ridiculous despite the subject. Each of them had had run ins with the Professor in the last couple of years that almost ended with them dying, or worse. And of course, at the end of the year, there was little to no evidence to show that he tried to do any of those things, so Headmistress Hylia was content to keep the teacher on, even if stood for everything that she hated.

Time had wondered sometimes if that was on purpose. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ sort of thing, but as time went on and more and more ‘coincidences’ happened, he began to think that she just spited each of the heroes and watched to see how long each of them would survive at the castle with one of Demise’s hight hand men having almost a free reign on everything that happened inside the castle’s walls.

“So, what’s the plan for everyone else? I’m sure that not everyone wants to follow me into the Happy Mask Shop,” Time asked, and he guessed correctly when most of the other group relaxed somewhat at the idea of not going into that particular store.

Out of everything in Hogsmeade, it was the most avoided place, even the Shrieking Shack got more traffic than the weird store that sat in between the pub and the weird pottery store that most of the group was banned from. It was very creepy to go into the place and see the many different masks watching and silently judging the customers as they walked past, and even the owner, who went by nothing but the Happy Mask Man, was eerie with his smile that never left his face and his eyes that never opened, like he was using the other masks to see his customers rather than using the ones that the Goddess was kind enough to give him. Time was glad to hear that the others didn’t want to go with him, his own interactions with masks that the store owned came back to mind, and he would much rather that the others stayed away from it.

But the guy owed him a couple of favours, and now was the best time to cash in on them.

“I want to show Wild the Shrieking Shack!” Hyrule said, causing Wild’s eyes to go wide with excitement, and it looked like he was about to vibrate from the sudden gain of energy.

“Yeah me too! I heard its haunted,” Warriors said as he side-eyed Legend, who predictably scoffed at his suggestion.

“It’s not haunted.” Legend responded with absolute certainty.

“Is too. It’s said that at the dead of night, when the moon is at its highest, you can hear the souls of the dead screaming to come back to life, and when you try and get close to the house, you are actually pulled away from the house by the spirit!” Warrior’s said, wiggling his fingers in front of Legend’s face, who leaned back to get away from them.

“Prove it.”

“Let’s go then,” Warriors suggested as he started to lead the way towards the ruined building, Wild and Hyrule hot on his heals while Legend followed along with slight reluctance in his step.

“Hold on Wind,” Twilight said as he held the boy back from following the others, “it’s probably better off if you stay in the village where its more crowded and people are less likely to recognise you.”

“Oh, okay. But you guys better show me next time!” Wind shouted to the other boys, and they all yelled their confirmations as they continued with their adventure.

“So what are we doing now?” Sky asked the remainder of the group.

“I need to pop into the bookstore, there was a book published last week on ancient Sheikah Runes and their particular uses and the owners said that they would stock it as soon as possible for me,” Four said, his eyes going purple at the mention of books and research and runes.

“I want to see Honeydukes! I’ve never been and I bet it’s magical!” Wind exclaimed.

“There’s not much particularly magical, it’s just the chocolate that charmed. I bet it would look exactly the same as any other muggle sweet shop.” Twilight explained to the excited preteen, but the excitement of going to a store filled with sugar.

“Muggles don’t really have them anymore. Oh! I also want to try a butterbeer,”

“Nice try buster, but you’re not yet thirteen. Just because you can sneak out the castle and get away with it does not mean you get to get away with underage drinking.” Time said, smiling as Wind’s face fell and went slightly red at the reprimand, before huffing and folding his arms.

“You do know we drink stronger stuff for breakfast back home, right?” Wind said. “So, are we going to the (bookstore) or are we going to wait around all day until we have to go back?” The rest of the group rolled their eyes at Wind’s question, but agreed nonetheless.

“I’ll go with Time to the Happy Mask Store, you guys go ahead, we’ll meet you guys at the Three Broomsticks, yeah?” Sky suggested, to which the rest of the group nodded. Twilight took the lead towards the bookshop, Four and Wind following along closely, leaving Sky and Time to watch them go ahead.

“You don’t have to come with me Sky, I know you get creeped out by him,” Time said, but he appreciated the effort nevertheless.

“It’s not safe enough to be by ourselves anymore, I don’t want to risk it,” Sky said, and he had Time there, “I’ve been having a weird feeling for the last couple of days now, I just don’t want someone get the drop on you just because you’re busy talking to a weird creepy guy who doesn’t know the meaning of a moral.”

“Okay then,” Time said, and lead the way towards the Happy Mask Shop.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hyrule! Did you get us lost again!” Legend shouted at the person who was now leading the group, frowning when Hyrule shook his head.

“No, I swear it’s this way,” Hyrule said as he pointed in a seemingly random direction, before frowning and turning around, pointing in a completely different direction. “Tell a lie, it’s this way. C’mon.” he said as he ran ahead, Wild close on his heels and Warriors trailing behind.

“We’ve been walking for way too long. We should have been there by now” Legend moaned as he reluctantly followed the group. Warriors waited for a second so he could walk with Legend.

“Have you ever been there bunny boy?” He asked as he messed up the younger boy’s hair.

“No, but-”

“Then what would you know about the direction? For all you know we are going the right way and you’re just being a big baby about it.” Warriors laughed.

“So, you know the way to the shrieking shack?”

“Yep.”

“Are we going the right way?

“Not in the slightest.” Warriors replied with good cheer, which only made Legend even more mad, causing him to stop in his step to look at the elder in disbelief.

“Are you fucking serious Warriors? Now we’re lost in the middle of Goddess know where. I really should have gone with the others.”

“Hush you. We’re not lost, I know where we are, but the others want to explore, they’ll get there in their own time. If we go too far off-course, I’ll point them in the right direction.” Warriors said without a care in the world. “Anyway, I need to talk to you about something.” Legend frowned at that

“So, you lied about the Shrieking Shack being haunted just so you could talk to me? You could have just said you wanted to talk without lying about something you know.”

“Oh no, the shrieking shack is haunted, and weird things have happened to students that have tried to get close to the house, but it was just an easy way to get you alone.”

“It’s not like we’re actually alone though,” Legend pointed at the other two boys, who were now trying to climb a tree to see if they could find the shrieking shack so they knew which way to go, giggling each time one of them fell out of the tree. Little did they know that there was a tree that was perfect to climb right next to them.

“They’re not listening to us, and quite honestly, they don’t care what we’re talking about right now, they’re very focused on their task,” Warriors replied as they watched the branch that Hyrule was stood on snap, leaving the boy to fall back to the ground. Luckily for him, it was not very high up, but it did leave Wild in a fit of giggles and Hyrule covered in mud.

“What did you want to talk about then?” Legend asked, hoping to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

“You know what the hat was on about at the beginning of the year don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.” Legend was quick to respond, but perhaps too quickly if the look on warrior’s face was anything to go by. “He didn’t say anything but waffle this year, nothing that we can use to help us this year like previous years, if you could even call it help in the first place.”

“I don’t know, the look on your face said otherwise,” Warriors said, before crossing his arms in front of himself while Wild and Hyrule screamed excitedly about something in the background, of which Legend ignored. “You’re not thinking of running off any time soon, are you?”

“Of course not, I’m not stupid, the hat said it would be dangerous to go alone,” Legend replied hotly.

“Hmm. So, any particular reason why you have your bag packed, ready to go at a moment’s notice?” Warriors asked, causing all the breath in Legend’s lungs to disappear.

How did he know about that?

Before he could even think of a lie to tell Warriors, the others interrupted him.

“It’s this way!” Wild pointed to the pair before he and Hyrule set of running.

“I guess we should go after them before something bad happens, though they are going the right way for once,” Warriors said as he moved to catch up with the younger boys, but not without telling Legend one last thing, “If you’re worried about something, or feel like we should leave, then talk to me, or someone else in the group, before rushing off and doing your own thing. You’re not the only hero here, remember?”

Legend followed along in silence.

* * *

The Happy Mask Store was just as creepy as Time remembered.

The walls were still covered in masks, each of them staring into the very depths of Time’s soul, but he recognised none of them from his previous trips to the shop, which left him to wonder on how many the Happy Mask Man actually had in his collection, and to wonder how many of them he actually sold, or if he just gave them away to people who were in desperate need of them like he was back in his first year.

The ones that he was given were still sat at the bottom of his chest back in his dorm, except for one that rested in his bag, weighing him down during their entire trip. He had debated bringing it along with him, seeing as he would not have much use for such a mask in what was considered a safe environment, but after what happened over the summer he found himself saying ‘just in case’ a lot more than he was happy with. He had tried to give them back to the Happy Mask Man, but the guy refused, saying that he should keep a hold of them for when he wanted to trade one for another, or when he did have a use for them again.

If Time had the choice, he would never have to see a single mask again for the rest of his life, let alone use one.

But, they did have their uses, even if he didn’t like them.

Other than the masks that lined the walls, the Happy Mask Shop was barren. There was no other decoration for the customers, if he ever got any, to look at while they waited for the Happy Mask Salesman to come back from where he went, no windows to let in any natural light and no sign as to where the Happy Mask Salesman had disappeared off to, and when he would be back.

“Man, this sure is creepy,” Sky said as he took a closer look at one of the masks that was at his eye level. It was bright yellow with small pointed ears at the top, similar to a rabbit, with the ends carefully painted in black. There was no holes in the mask, making it impossible to see or speak or even breath out of, and if Time didn’t know how the masks worked he would of wondered why someone would by a mask like this, for on the surface it seemed that the mask could only be worn for a couple of minutes before having to be taken off again so that the user could breath. The face painted onto it was rather cute though, closed eyes that looked rather happy and an adorable nose that had been glued on. Time looked below the mask at the plaque to see if to could give an insight to what it was or what it did, but only got a name for it.

_The Keaton Mask._

“Ah, are you interested in that one, Link? We can always do a trade, you know this,” Time tightened his jaw as he quickly turned around, not surprised to find the Happy Mask Man standing behind him, though Sky was, jumping kin surprise at the voice as his hand went for his wand, though Time stopped him from pulling it out completely and hexing the man. Magic never reacted very well when it came to masks.

“Not today, we’re here for something else,” Time said.

“Oh really! Whatever can I do to help a hero?” The man gushed, his smile growing larger on his face.

“I’m sure that you have been following the news about the impending war?” Time asked the man, who smiled back.

“Well, if you believe if Rumour Mill, there is no war going on!” the Happy Mask Salesman gave a delightful cheer at the news, leaving Time to roll his eyes. Over the last couple of years, the Rumour Mill had only inconvenienced the group, from telling lies about their adventures, spreading false information about the dangers in the world and outright denying the upcoming war. They tried to tell people that monster attacks were the lowest they’ve ever been and not at an all time high, pass off blood moons as a natural occurrence and that demons did not exist at all.

It was a shame that most of the population was happy to agree with the paper than think for themselves.

“And if you don’t believe the Rumour Mill?” Time questioned.

“Well, if you don’t believe the Rumour Mill, all you have to go off is the whispers,” The Happy Mask Salesman

“Whispers?” Sky muttered under his breath to Time, but the Happy Mask Salesman perked up at Sky joining the conversation.

“Why yes! Many things talk in this world, Hero of the Sky. Why just the other day a Sheikah Stone was telling me an interesting fact about things hidden underneath a well.” The Happy Mask Salesman paused for a second, as if knowing that Sky was about to interrupt him.

“But that’s not what we’re asking for-”

“Underneath a well?” Time asked, cutting Sky off in a fashion that was most unlike him.

“It was a marvellous piece of information, sounds right up your alley Link!” The smile did not fall from the Happy Mask Salesman, “But like Link said, that was not the real reason why you’re here, is it Link?”

“It’s not what was asked.” Time agreed.

“It is not, but I can say that the well in question is known by a professor, though what professor I could not say, they all look the same after a while,” The Happy Mask Salesman let out a laugh, though Sky wasn’t quite sure what the joke was supposed to be.

“You heroes should head back to the others soon, I believe that they will need you more than you need me,” the strange man said, before looking back at Time. “I believe you should trade masks, Link. The one you currently have on you will be no use to you I’m afraid, but I have one that will help you out if you so desire.”

“If you think that would be best,” Time agreed with the man, and dug through his bag to take out a mask that defiantly looked like it deserved to be in this shop. It had a roughly carved round head, but unlike the Keaton mask there was parts cut out of it for someone’s eyes and mouth. There was something about it though, that gave it an aura of terror. The happy Mask Salesman didn’t seem to feel this aura, and snatched it right out of Time’s hands, though he was happy to see it go.

“Now this is a mask I haven’t seen in years! Why, you must have been ten when I gave this to you.” The Happy Mask Salesman held the mask up to the light to further inspect it, and he nodded when it passed his inspection.

“Eleven.” Time corrected.

“Yes yes, now just wait here while I look for the mask I have in mind. It was created for you especially Link, so I’m sure you will enjoy it,” The Happy Mask Salesman went around the counter and to the back of the store, leaving Sky and Time alone.

“You actually use these masks?” Time nodded at question.

“Anyone can use the masks, but I wouldn’t recommend, as they’re quite uncomfortable. However, they can be quite useful in the right situation. though, some are more hassle than their worth,” Time replied.

“How do you even see out of some of them?”

Silence echoed around them for a minute before Time replied.

“I… don’t actually know.” Time said, stumped, which confused Sky even more. He had been using them since he was eleven, meaning that he had been using them for almost about seven years now, and he never thought to question how they work even once?

“Here it is!” The Happy Mask Salesman was back, and happier than ever it seemed, his smile cutting across his face, creating a wide trench where every single one of his pearly white teeth could be seen and counted, if Sky ever had the desire to do so.

“I call this beauty the Mask of Truth, and it is one of my greatest inventions. You will find this invaluable in the months to come.” He said, before moving his head to the side, as if thinking really hard about something, his smile faltering for a second before coming back with full force.

“I believe it’s time for you heroes to go, you are needed elsewhere now. But please! Do drop in when you have the time in the new year.” The two Hogwarts students blinked and found themselves outside of the store and on the door in front of them hung a sign.

_Closed. Come back when you’ve found the Truth._

“That’s not terrifying in the slightest,” Sky said.

“You get used to it,” Time replied. “Let’s go and find the others.”

* * *

Four had gotten his book, Wind had gotten his sweets, and now it was time for Twilight to get his drink.

They had managed to get a booth that they could see the door, and therefore their friends when they decide to meet up with the group, but close enough to the roaring fire that the chill of the October day was able to leave their bones. The alehouse was as lively as ever, students filling most of the tables, but Twilight could spot the occasional group of locals that mutter underneath their breath about the latest gossip or the newest headline on the Rumour Mill, and there’s a group of teachers complaining about one thing or another.

It’s a sight that Twilight was familiar with. This was the fourth year that he had been able to visit Hogsmeade, and while the pub was not his favourite place, he could not argue with the somehow nostalgic feeling that the pub gave off. Sure, he had nothing like this back in his village, the only alehouse being an inn filled with the occasional traveller and men who had finished their work for the day, but something about it screamed security, something about the fire roaring in the background filled him with warmth only being at home could do and the children giggling in the background brought up memories of chasing after the forest children when he was young enough to believe in them.

Then why did everything feel like it was about to fall apart at any moment?

“You feel it too?” Twilight looked at Wind, who was looking though the jellybeans that he had brought, frowning slightly at a lime green one before popping it into his mouth, his face scrunching up in surprise and disgust at the taste. Next to him Four was already deep into his book.

“It’s like everyone’s pretending that the moon isn’t going to fall tomorrow when they all can see it’s smiling face staring at them,” Twilight said.

“That’s oddly specific,” Four said without looking up from his book.

“So, when Time talks about fighting the moon it’s a joke but when I mention it is ‘specific’?” Twilight asked before taking a large sip of his drink. While Noble Pursuit was his favourite in the summer, there was nothing that beat a warm ale when winter was approaching their doorstep.

“There is no way that Time has fought the moon,” Four said with total conviction, like a sane person would be if they has not in fact watched Time fight the Moon, as he quickly scribbled a small note in the margins of his new book in pencil.

“Wait, Time has fought the moon?” Wind asked with childlike wonder, and Twilight was suddenly reminded that this kid was twelve. Twilight couldn’t remember what he was like at twelve, though he was sure that Time would happily remind him if he asked, but he could never remember being that carefree at that age, not after his ‘adventure’ with Midna the summer before his second year.

“You’ll have to ask him,” Twilight said with a smile, much to Four’s annoyance. Four started to speak up again, probably listing every single reason why having a fight with the moon is impossible, the door to the alehouse swung open, catching Twilight’s attention. He had hoped it was one of the others, as he was sure that they would help back him up in his claim, only to rifle Four up a little bit more.

It wasn’t one of the others, but it was someone who recognised.

Diving underneath the table, Twilight could only hope that Four and Wind’s shout of surprise wasn’t enough to catch the

“What the fuck Twi-”

“Shhhh!” Twilight hushed, cutting Four off. “Don’t look under the table, just pretend I’m not here,”

“What, Why?” Wind asked.

“It’s Zant!”

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am honestly having so much fun writing some of these characters! The final chapter will be out very soon since I'm currently stuck in my house since there's no uni atm, but at least there's no exams. Stay safe everyone :D


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the shack was in sight, Legend found the closest tree stump and sat down, crossing his arms and ignoring Wild and Hyrule’s shouts of excitement, Warrior’s side glances as he kept an eye on their friends to make sure they didn’t get themselves killed, and the way that the wind whistled a familiar song into his ears to comfort him.

_A childish mind will turn to noble ambition,_

_Young love will become deep affection._

_Time passes, people move... Like a river's flow, it never ends..._

_In the past seven years I've watch you heroes grow_

_And now I have nothing left to say_

_Except that it's dangerous to go alone._

The hat’s words echoed back in Legend’s mind, something that had been a recurring thing in the past month.

Every year the sorting hat would tell a prophecy of the school year to come. That was just how it was. Normally, it would predict if it was going to be a good year for the students, if there was going to be a dramatic scandal or an exciting event that people should keen an eye out for.

But things just couldn’t be normal for anyone who had the name Link, could it? Instead of any of those sorts of predictions, the hat gave them warning of an impending war against the Demon God and barely enough clues to survive until the next year.

And just when they needed the hat the most, when they needed the most guidance that they have ever needed in their lives (because goddess forbid that his mother helps out in any way, shape, or form) it just turns around and tells them that there is nothing left to say. How stupid! And he thought that the hat calling him a dreamer in first year was bad, this is the worst thing it has ever said in its entire existence.

He hated it because it was no help to him, but he hated it more because it _knew._ It knew that he was planning to run off during the Hogwarts year, when everyone was busy with their schoolwork and their social groups and their petty teenage problems. It knew that he was going to feel too restless, too useless, sat at Hogwarts learning spells he already knew and theory that was pointless at this point.

_Except that it’s dangerous to go alone._

But he couldn’t stay. He needed to find the shrine maidens, he needed to find the shrines. Sure, they had found some of them, but not all of them, not enough. Demise was not going to wait around until the hero he was destined to fight finished his education, in fact, if he was Demise, the earlier he picked his fight the better, as that would increase his chances of winning, which made staying around an even worse idea.

If they stuck around, he might attack the castle, and for as much as he did not agree with his mother and some of his sisters, he has hurt them enough times. Legend wouldn’t stand for any more of it.

“C’mon Legend! Stop being a sourpuss and explore with us! You’re really good at finding things,” Hyrule called to him, and Legend rolled his eyes.

“If you were looking for something then you should have brought Sky along. I’ve heard that Hufflepuff are very good finders,” Legend said as he stood up and joined Hyrule with whatever he was looking for. Wild and Warriors were edging each other to get closer and closer to the Shrieking Shack, egging each other on, and Legend didn’t want anything to do with their stupidity. There was no way that it was haunted, but on the off chance that it was, Legend wanted to stay away from it. He was so over ghosts.

“But then it’s no fun if he’s able to find something straight away,” Hyrule said, before giving a small smile to Legend, “Besides, you’re better at knowing if something will be useful later on or not, if we do find anything that is.” Legend let out a sigh as he followed Hyrule deeper into the woods but making sure that Warriors and Wild were within their sight, not wanting to get lost with Hyrule in the forest.

“What are we looking for anyways?” Legend asked, frowning when Hyrule looked away from him, seemingly looking at the ground for animal tracks.

“Something called a Blupee.”

“What the hell is a Blupee?” Legend asked as Hyrule dragged him deeper into the woods, which made Legend weary. Any deeper and they would be in the Forbidden Forest, and while it was not as dangerous as the Lost Woods, they were still dangerous enough for Legend to be weary of the steps he takes and have a hand ready to grab his wand. He was not about to die to a octorock because Hyrule was more focused on a creature that might not even exist.

“It looks like a blue glowing rabbit but it has a weird owl face and like six eyes.” Hyrule explained as he pulled Legend into a crouch and

“A glowing blue rabbit?” Legend asked, unimpressed, but he still couldn’t help the smile that came to his face when Hyrule got excited and began to explain how Wild had said that he had spotted them when he had gone into the forest last year and how they were supposed to be good luck.

Legend listened to his rant uninterrupted for almost five minutes before Hyule inexplicitly cuts himself off, before digging into his bad, breaking the silence that he had spent to long trying to create.

“What’s wrong?” Legend asked as Hyrule opened a small book.

“We need to get back to the others. They’re in trouble.”

* * *

“Who’s Zant?” Wind asked, trying to look underneath the table to be dragged back up Four while Twilight fiddled with the tablecloth so that it would hide his legs properly while still giving him a view of the bar. Zant was still talking with the barmaid, and they seemed to be having a very deep conversation.

“You know the person who just walked in? He’s currently talking to the woman behind the bar, but don’t make it obvious that you’re looking.” The background noise seemed to fade away at Twilight’s words as he captivated the rest of the table, the two younger boys now having their full attention on Twilight.

“The weirdo with pale skin, red hair and an awful choice in cloth- Ouch, why did you kick me!?” Wind exclaimed, his voice breaking as Four’s foot connected with his shin.

“Any louder and you’re gonna give him a free invite to come over,” Four muttered, his book still open on the table but now completely abandoned.

“That’s the person who’s currently in charge of the Twili,” Twilight whispered, grimacing as his voice carried further than he planned.

“I thought Midna was working on that?” Four asked as he flipped a page in his book, though if anyone who actually looked at him would notice that his focus was more on the wand that laid out on his lap.

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Okay, but why are you hiding underneath a table?” It was easy with how Wind fit in with the group to forget how young he was, and how he completely missed sharing the school with Zant and the utter chaos that Twilight and Midna brought to the school in their first year. To be fair, Four was also not at the school at the time, but that boy seemed to be able to find out anything on anyone and it brought fear to Twilight that Zant could only wish to do.

"Because he's also working for Demise, and I may have ruined some pretty big plans in first year. According to Midna, he still holds a grudge." Twilight said, his legs beginning to burn slightly at how he was crouching underneath the table. He desperately wanted to just stand up and stretch, or even turn into a wolf, but he knew that his wolf form would not fit underneath the table and the second that Zant saw him there would be trouble. They had all agreed earlier this week that they wouldn't cause any funny business today, that they would try and have a normal day. Was that too much for them to ask for?

"Oh... This is bad." Wind said as he stuffed some of his sweets into his mouth as he looked above Four's bent head, before swallowing hard and whispering "I should have just stayed up at the castle."

"Yeah you should have," Four grumbled, "But you would be complaining about missing out on the action if you had, so this does save us from listening to your complaining later."

"Okay, so what's the plan? What do we do?" Wind asked.

"Pretend that I'm not currently hiding underneath the table, but you guys should probably have your wands ready, just in case." Twilight instructed, ignoring the fact that Four had had his wand out in his lap ever since Twilight decided to dive down underneath the table. "Do not attack unless he starts it," he added on, mainly for Wind, who was always a bit too trigger happy for Twilight's comfort.

"Uh..."

"Uh?" Twilight asked, not liking the way that Four gripped his wand tighter and the sudden shakiness in Wind's leg.

"I hope you’re comfortable underneath that table, because he's making his way over." Four answered as he decided to put his book into his bag and pull out a small book and a self-inking quill. “Wind, leave the talking to me okay.” The other boy nodded. 

They lulled into a heavy silence as they allowed the noise of the pub wash over them, the people around them seemingly unaware of growing situation in the background. Twilight's legs were now burning, and he had to hold back his impulse to just jump up from underneath the booth and just attack Zant straight up. But he knew if he did, not only would he get into trouble with his professors, but he would never hear the end of Legend and Warrior's rant about 'reckless Gryffindors'. He held his breath as he spotted some boots came into his vision, stopping only a couple of feet away from his hiding spot, but that was still too close to Four and WInd.

"I don't suppose any of you would know where Link is?" Zant's raspy voice was barely noticeable over the volume, but it still managed to rattle against Twilight's eardrums.

“Which one?" Four asked as he completely ignoring Zant as he continued on with his writing. Why he decided now was a good time to be writing an essay or whatever Twilight wouldn't know. The Ravenclaw always managed to confuse him, just as he thought he knew him as well.

"'Which one?'"

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, probably not because by the looks of you it's been years since you were at Hogwarts, but there are at least a couple of Link’s at the school. Last I checked there was, like, five? But that’s when I decided to give up counting, and that was a couple years ago, so who knows how many there are now.” Four said nonchalantly, his quill scratching loudly against his parchment, and mixed in with Wind's continuous chewing, it made Twilight's ears grate.

What was Four doing?

"Well, I'm sure you know the Link I'm looking for, after all, the lovely barmaid did point me at your direction." It was hard to hear Zant over Four's writing, almost impossible, as with every word Zant said the louder the quill against the parchment became. Twilight frowned as he placed a hand on Wind's leg, trying to calm the younger down.

"I really don't, it's just the pair of us, and we don’t really answer to Link," Four said, still not looking at Zant. Wind nodded vigorously with the statement.

"I was told that there were three of you," Zant needed to leave. There was only so long Twilight was willing to wait before he decided to just try and make a run for it. He did want to be able to feel his legs tomorrow.

"There's not. Even if there was another one of us, I doubt that he would be able to help find this 'Link', especially since you haven't told us which Link you're looking for," Wind joined in, surprising everyone at his sudden contribution, but maybe the amount of sugar had finally calmed the Hufflepuff's nerves.

"You're looking for a Link? Maybe I'll be able to help?" Never before had Twilight been relieved hear Time's voice. If Time was here, it meant that he could distract Zant long enough for him to escape and hide, or maybe if he was lucky he would be able to convince Zant to leave peacefully. But he got a feeling that neither of those things would happen.

"Oh. Link. Long time no see," Was it just Twilight or was the background noise beginning to dim around them? Nevertheless, Twilight crouched lower, his wand now held loosely in his hand as he prepared to make an escape, a number of curses on his lips, just in case, watching people's legs and wondering which way out he was going to have to make.

"Now that you've found Link, can you leave? I've got work to do," Four muttered as he somehow began to write louder. Twilight was going to snap that quill by the end of this.

"He's not the right Link and you know it!" Zant shouted, and the sound of the pub went completely silent.

"One last chance. Tell me where Link is!" Waiting it out was clearly not going to work, and Twilight hated that he couldn’t assess the situation properly, his view of the bar and Zant’s feet giving him no hints as to what he should do next.

"Put your wand down, and maybe we'll talk," Sky replied, and yeah, that made sense as to why the building was acting like a silencing charm had been placed on them.

"Ava-"

"Locomotor Mortis!" Twilight shouted as he started off in a run, briefly seeing Time and Sky's surprise on his face as he dashed out of the pub, ducking as he ran through the door and grimacing as he watched a red spell hit the door frame next to him. He felt bad for completely abandoning the others in the pub, but he still had the shadow crystal around his neck, like he promised Midna he didn't let it out of his sight. As soon as he was on the street he didn't have time to think about where he would go next as he took in the scene around him. It seemed that the people that Zant had brought with him had taken Zant trying to throw a spell, or being cursed himself, as a sign to start an attack on Hogsmeade.

Along with Twili throwing spells at students, teachers and civilian alike, there were a group of bokoblins and a moblin on the edge of the villiage, but it seemed that the rest of their group were on the case, having come across the group of monsters on their way back from the shrieking shack. Which made no sense because he swore the Shrieking Shack was almost a mile away from the village, so there was no way that they would have known or heard about the attack unless they were warned ahead of time or they had decided to head back early, and having Hyrule and Wild in that group made the latter option very unlikely. Despite this fact, Twilight ran up the monsters and started his own volley of attacks, because Wild was still very reckless and often left his back open. They were going to have to sort that out soon if Wild wanted to continue to fight with them.

"Oh hey Twilight!" Wild smiled at him before taking a quick look around at what they were dealing with. Most of the Twili were being fought against the teachers and some of the elder students, Linkle was always terrifying to watch fight after all, but it seemed that everyone had silently agreed to let the Links fight the monsters that had appeared out of nowhere. Because why not, Twilight guessed it was sometime to do with the display that they put on last year when the monsters attacked the castle, but that was never a good excuse.

Twilight threw up a shield as he ran up to Warriors, while Wind legged it to the closest tree, climbing it with speed that Twilight knew that he would never be able to find in another wizard or witch. Legend and Hyrule were just a distance away, but were completely surrounded by lightning and ice, so Twilight was going to leave them to whatever they were doing, elemental magic was never his strong suit.

"Heard Zant was looking for you!" Warriors grinned as he continued his volley of spells, a mix of controlled flames and precise cuts, leaving Twilight to cast shield after shield as the horde of bokoblins continued to try and break through them with their clubs and broken swords. Spelled clubs and broken swords. They shouldn't be able to go through his shields as fast as they were.

"How did you hear about that?" Twilight asked.

"Some weird book that Hyrule and Four have. Can send messages or something."

"Convenient." Twilight muttered as he and Warrior's managed to get through the horde of bokoblins just as Legend and Hyrule finished with their light show, the last of the stragglers being taken down by Wild in his tree, leaving only the moblin to deal with.

"How are we doing this?" Legend asked as he and Hyrule ran to meet up with the other two, making sure to dodge the moblin's swinging spear. Warriors went to speak, he was the person who could come up with the best plan in the least amount of time, but before he could say anything, the moblin took another look at them before turning around and going back to the village.

“What the hell?” Hyrule said. “I’ve never seen a moblin walk away from a fight like that before.”

“What are we waiting for? We need to go after it!” Legend growled as he started running after it, leaving the others to have to chase him.

“Maybe if we’re lucky I can take a couple of stabs at Zant before he disappears,” Warriors muttered

“Not if I get there first,” Wild said, his smile looking was too feral looking to sit comfortably with Twilight, especially knowing Wild’s nature to just explode things.

“No explosions Wild,” Twilight muttered as they finally met up with Legend and the moblin. Taking a second to take in the situation, Legend frowned at how little progress he had made on the mobin whiek the others had cought up with them. That wasn’t him putting Legend down, in fact, if anyone has the most experience in the group with fighting monsters, Legend would be the first person in Twilight’s mind.

But even with his ice rod in hand, the moblin was being difficult to kill. It was not surprising to struggle against thirty bokoblins, even if they did fall to one swipe of a want, but moblins, while much bigger and stronger than bokoblins, could easily be taken on in a group of three or even four if the person knew what they were doing. And yet, it seemed that no matter what Legend threw at the monster, nothing seemed to be hitting it.

Twilight only just managed to get to the younger Slytherin in time to throw up a shield to save his stomach from being pieced from here’s spear.

“Do you have a death wish? We can help you if you just let us you know,” Twilight moaned as he started to throw piercing curses at the moblin while Legend held on the defensive.

“Would you shut it? I’ve already got Warriors on my case, go look after Wild,” Legend replid, using his ice rod to freeze the floor underneath the moblin, but it didn’t seem to be having an effect on the monster like Legend planned, as it decided to slip and go through the pub’s wall.

Inside the building that Twilight had escaped from looked more of a mess than the rest of the attacked village, tables overturned and chairs tossed to the side, and now that there was a nice big hole in the wall, the people trapped in the building were able to escape, including a frazzled Wind and a nice cut on his forehead and a calm Four, his book still in his hand and his quill thankfully snapped into two pieces. Sky and Time were holding up pretty well against Zant, but they could not hold his attention as the Twili spotted him.

Zant wasn’t able to properly react to seeing Twilight however, as everything was thrown into a blaze.

“What did I say about explosions!” Twilight screamed as he threw up a shield for him Wind and Four.

“I’ll say sorry when the explosion doesn’t save your life!” Wild yelled back as he summoned his bow, shooting towards the moblin’s feet and giving Warriors the opening he needed to finally attack the moblin’s head, leaving it to roll on the floor for a hot second before it quickly rotted before their eyes, leaving a mess of black blood.

Twilight turned back towards Time and Sky, only to see the person that they had been fighting had disappeared.

Hogsmeade was now oddly silent. Uncomfortably so. What was supposed to be a fun day for the students was ruined by the group of Links and their awful ability to attract trouble.

“Why is it, that whenever something happens, I always find you boys in the centre of it all?” The group turned to see their transfiguration teacher. Impa had a small cut on her cheek and was covered in dust, not doubt from Wild’s earlier explosion, but the glare that struck into everyone’s soul was much scarier than the battle that had just taken place. It was weird to think that such an old woman would be able to put up such a fight, but after the display she pulled off last year, well, it was easy to say that no one in their group would be underestimating her any time soon.

“Trust me, I found myself asking that question every single day,” Four replied, getting an agreement from the rest of the group.

“Hmm. Well, from what I could gather, you boys were also the ones who sustained the most injuries, the worst I’ve heard was a broken bone from Groose, but I guess that’s what happens when you all run head first into danger,” She said as she watched Wild pass a potion to Twilight and Hyrule mending the deep gash that Warriors sustained before Twilight had reached him, before turning to Wind.

“You best get back to the castle before I see you Outset. The detention I’ll set if I catch you outside the castle walls without permission can be quite harsh, I’m sure the others can tell you all about their past experiences with it.” She stated before turning away from the group to talk to one of the villagers about how best to fix the village.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wind asked before receiving a light blow to the head from Twilight.

“You’re a second year, you’re not supposed to be in Hogsmeade remember!” Twilight reminded him, his arms crossed in a way that was supposed to be a parent, but no one in their group had a proper parental figure in their life, but it was hard for Wind to take him seriously when he knew about the things that t he rest of the group had gotten into when they were his age.

“Oh yeah, I’ll meet you guys back at the castle then!” Wind said as he scampered off, but not before Hyrule handed him a potion with strict instructions to drink it and make sure he made it back to the castle safely.

“They’re getting braver,” Warriors noted as they watched Wind run into the crowd of confused and scared students. 

“Getting stronger more like. I don’t know about you guys, but I can normally take on a couple of moblins by myself without breaking a sweat, but it took half of us working together to even take down one,” Legend pointed out.

“They all had black blood, like the ones during the summer,” Four muttered as he took a closer inspection of the ground, scooping up some of the blood into an empty vial and placing it into his robe’s pocket. 

“That would be the malice, which only shows that Demise is growing stronger,” Wild said.

“That’s nothing new. He’s been growing stronger since most of us were learning to walk.” Sky muttered, his experience from the year previously coming to his mind.

“But he’s never been strong enough to help monsters to this extent before.” Twilight said.

“It’s not just the monsters. Don’t get me wrong, Zant is stupid, but not stupid enough to attack Twilight in public if he didn’t think he was going to get away with killing him.” Time added.

“If they’re going to target Twilight, who’s not to say that another one of us is next?” Hyrule said as he crossed his arms. “We’re very lucky that no one was hurt badly today, but can we say that for next time.”

“Then time is of the essence. We cannot continue to let this happen.”

“And what are we going to do? We can’t do anything while we’re suck at Hogwarts! We’ll be sitting cucoos!” Legend almost screamed at Warriors, the others jumping back in surprise at the sudden emotion from the boy. However, Warriors only smiled down at his housemate.

“Who said anything about staying at Hogwarts?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write a good portion of this chapter during a lw, which was pretty fun.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is what year and house everyone is in. 
> 
> Time - Gryffindor, yr7  
> Twilight - Gryffindor, yr6  
> Warriors - Slytherin, yr6  
> Legend - Slytherin, yr5  
> Sky - Hufflepuff, yr5  
> Four - Ravenclaw, yr4  
> Hyrule - Ravenclaw, yr4  
> Wild - Gryffindor, yr3  
> Wind - Hufflepuff, yr2
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed! I've got a lot planned for this and I want to see if people are interested in actually reading it. You can find me on my tumblr @skiewrites or on the linked universe discord under the same name!


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